Unit 3: Civil War & Reconstruction (1846-1877)
Americans continued to argue over the important issues of slavery and tariffs until South Carolina seceded from the Union in 1860. The United States fought a brutal civil war for the next four years to determine once and for all who had supreme power over the law - federal or state governments. After the war, the federal government attempted, but ultimately failed, to rebuild the South and to protect the rights of African American citizens.


TEXTBOOK CHAPTERS:
Chapter No. in Book
Chapter Title
Chapter No. in Computer
6
The Union in Crisis
10
7
The Civil War
11
8
The Reconstruction Era
12

Notes Charts:






MAJOR CONCEPTS: Abolition, Compromise, Popular Sovereignty, Nationalism, States' Rights, Secession, Strategies and Advantages in War, Emancipation, Citizenship, Reconstruction, Segregation
  • Americans are divided over whether or not slavery will spread to the new lands in the West.
  • Anti-slavery movements gain strength and oppose the Dred Scott decision and the harsh Fugitive Slave Law.
  • South Carolina secedes after Abraham Lincoln is elected without any electoral votes from the South.
  • Civil war rages for four years before the Union defeats the Confederacy and slavery is abolished permanently.
  • The Southern land and economy are devastated by war, but Americans debate how the South should be reconstructed.
  • Political compromise ends the federal occupation of the South, as well as federal protection of African American rights.


Warning: The following information is subject to change, based on instructional needs. Do not copy objectives or complete quickwrites ahead of time.

Unit 3 Day 1
Topics: Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Act, Underground Railroad, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Kansas-Nebraska Act, "Bleeding Kansas"

Learning Objectives:
Students will
  • Assess Congress' attempts to compromise on slavery in the 1850s.
  • Analyze the growing antislavery sentiment in the North.
  • Evaluate the early signs of violence in the nation.

Quickwrite: How did the Wilmot Proviso signal an increase in tensions over slavery in the 1840s? (Ch. 6.1)

Homework: Read Ch. 6.3 & 6.4 (Honors: Complete reading charts)

Unit 3 Day 2
Topics: Party realignment, Dred Scott v. Sanford, Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Popular sovereignty, John Brown's Raid, Election of 1860, Confederate States of America, Fort Sumter

Learning Objectives:
Students will
  • Assess the buildup to war in the U.S.
  • Evaluate causes of the Civil War.

Quickwrite: Use the maps in Ch. 6.2 to summarize the significance of the three major compromises over slavery before the outbreak of war.

Homework: Read Ch. 7.1 & 7.2 (Honors: Complete reading charts)

Unit 3 Day 3
Topics: Wartime advantages, Anaconda Plan, Bull Run, Antietam, Emancipation Proclamation

Learning Objectives:
Students will
  • Evaluate the advantages and strategies of the North and South upon entering the war.
  • Analyze the outcome and significance of the early battles of the Civil War.
  • Assess the contributions of African Americans in the war.

Quickwrite: John Brown: Hero or Terrorist?

Homework: Read Ch. 7.3 & 7.4 (Honors: Complete reading charts)

Unit 3 Day 4
Topics: Income tax, Homestead Act, Draft riots, Copperheads, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Gettysburg Address, "March to the Sea," Appomatox Courthouse, Lincoln's assassination

Learning Objectives:
Students will
  • Analyze the economic and political changes that took place in the North during the war.
  • Analyze the outcome and significance of the final turning points of the war.

Quickwrite: True or false: A northern victory in the Civil War was inevitable. Explain.

Homework: Read Ch. 7.5 & 8.1 (Honors: Complete reading charts)

Unit 3 Day 5
Topics: Appomatox Courthouse, Lincoln's assassination, Presidential Reconstruction, Congressional Reconstruction, Civil War amendments, Freedman's Bureau, black codes, Civil Rights Act of 1866, Military Reconstruction

Learning Objectives:
Students will
  • Assess the impact of the assassination of President Lincoln.
  • Compare the differing views on Reconstruction Plans.
  • Analyze actions taken to limit and protect the rights of African Americans after the war.

Quickwrite: What do you notice about the graph in Ch. 7.5 labeled "American Deaths in All Wars"?

Homework: Read Ch. 8.2 & 8.3 (Honors: Complete reading charts)

Unit 3 Day 6
Topics: Scalawags & Carpetbaggers, Segregation, Sharecropping, Ku Klux Klan, Compromise of 1877

Learning Objectives:
Students will
  • Evaluate the successes and failures of Reconstruction.
  • Analyze the impact of violence and intimidation on African American rights.
  • Analyze the reasons Reconstruction was brought to an end in the South.

Quickwrite: Why is the term "reconstruction" appropriate for describing the time period after the Civil War?

Homework: Study for Unit 3 Test on chapters 6-8.

Unit 3 Day 7
Topics: Unit 3 test tomorrow!

Learning Objectives:
Students will
  • Catch up and prepare for Unit 3 test tomorrow on chapters 6-8.

Quickwrite: Create a multiple choice question for the test tomorrow.

Homework: Study for Unit 3 test tomorrow on chapters 6-8.

Unit 3 Test Day
Homework: Read Ch. 9.1 & 9.2 (Honors: Complete reading charts)





Links
US History Textbook Site

SAS Review and Further Research (username: northwood)
Causes of the Civil War
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
Lincoln and the Civil War
The Emancipation Proclamation
Civil War Battles
Civil War Battles
Reconstruction
Sharecropping